Southern Minnesota woman sentenced for role in Amish buggy crash that killed 2 children

A southern Minnesota woman has been sentenced for attempting to take the blame for her twin sister in a 2023 fatal Amish buggy crash. On Monday afternoon, a Fillmore County judge sentenced 37-year-old Sarah Petersen to 90 days in jail followed by four years of supervised probation. Court records show the jail sentence can be served on work release.Sarah Petersen pleaded guilty in February to two counts of aiding and abetting criminal vehicular operation. As part of a plea deal, 14 other felony charges were dropped. The judge stayed a 33-month prison sentence for both counts, meaning if she does not follow the guidelines for her probation, she will return to jail to serve out that sentence. The Sept. 23, 2023 crash in Fillmore County killed two children, a 7- and 11-year-old, and injured two others. According to court documents, the woman driving the Toyota 4Runner SUV that collided with the horse-drawn buggy, 37-year-old Samantha Jo Petersen, was high on meth during the incident. While first responders were at the scene, a sheriff's deputy was approached by a woman who identified herself as Sarah Beth Petersen and claimed she was the driver of the car that hit the buggy. The deputy activated his digital pocket recorder during his conversation with Sarah Petersen, court documents say. The two had a conversation inside his squad car about the crash, where Sarah Petersen told the deputy she didn't see the buggy and hit it while driving home from work in Rochester, Minnesota. She said she had been driving her twin sister Samantha's car since hers was in the shop.The deputy went to talk to other law enforcement officers and left his recorder on in the vehicle with Sarah Petersen. In the recording, Sarah Petersen is allegedly heard saying to her sister, "I think that one of the guys is onto me, but I don't really care," and, "There's no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us, so they can't tell."A search of Samantha Petersen's phone revealed a text she sent on the day of the crash, writing, in part, "I hit that Amish buggy and killed two ppl [sic]." She continued, "Made Sarah come there and take the fall for it so I wouldn't go to prison."Samantha Petersen is facing 17 felony charges, including criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular operation, driving under the influence, failure to provide proof of insurance, careless driving and speeding. Court records show she's scheduled to have a plea hearing on June 9.